Scott McDonald and Eileen Ng

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: China demanded that Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that a Malaysia Airlines jet had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, killing all 239 on board. Officials sharply narrowed the search area as a result of that assessment, but the zone remains as large as Texas and Oklahoma combined.

Australia said improved weather would allow the hunt for the plane to resume on Wednesday after gale-force winds and heavy rain forced a day-long delay. Searchers face a daunting task of combing a vast expanse of choppy seas for suspected remnants of the aircraft sighted earlier.

"We're not searching for a needle in a haystack - we're still trying to define where the haystack is," Australia's deputy defence chief, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, told reporters at a military base in Perth as idled planes stood behind him.

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Late on Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that a new analysis of satellite data confirmed the plane had crashed in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean.

That announcement unleashed a storm of sorrow and anger among the families of the plane's passengers and crew - two-thirds of them Chinese. Family members of the passengers have complained bitterly about a lack of reliable information and some say they are not being told the whole truth.

Nearly 100 relatives and their supporters marched on Tuesday to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing, where they threw plastic water bottles, tried to rush the gate and chanted, "Liars!"

Many wore white T-shirts that read "Let's pray for MH370" as they held banners and shouted, "Tell the truth! Return our relatives!"

There was a heavy police presence at the embassy. Police briefly scuffled with a group of relatives who tried to approach journalists.

In a clear statement of support for the families, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered a special envoy, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, to Kuala Lumpur to deal with the case. Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia's ambassador that China wanted to know exactly what led Mr Najib to announce that the plane had been lost, a statement on the ministry's website said.

Investigators and the Malaysian government have been able to say little with certainty about Flight 370's fate since it disappeared on March 8 shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

Left unanswered are many troubling questions about why it was so far off course. Experts piecing together radar and satellite data believe the plane back-tracked over Malaysia and then travelled in the opposite direction to the Indian Ocean.

Investigators will be looking at various possibilities including mechanical or electrical failure, hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or someone else on board.

"We do not know why. We do not know how. We do not know how the terrible tragedy happened," Malaysia Airlines' chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, told reporters.

The airline's chairman, Mohammed Nor Mohammed Yusof, said on Tuesday it may take time for further answers to become clear.

"This has been an unprecedented event requiring an unprecedented response," he said. "The investigation still under way may yet prove to be even longer and more complex than it has been since March 8th."

He added that even though no wreckage has been found, there was no doubt the plane had crashed.